Loom reed having removable dents



l 2,914,094" LooM REED HAVING REMOVABLE DENTS Richard B. Hutchins, -Worcester, Mass., assignor to Whitaker Reed Company, Worcester, Mass., :1 corporation of Massachusetts Application March 18, 1958, Serial No. 722,295

4 Claims. or. 139-192 This invention relates to the art of weaving, and 'more particularly to the construction of the reed which has spaced dents arranged to separate the warp during weaving. The reed is customarily mounted for oscillation, so that after a shuttle has threaded a weft or filling between the spaced strands of warp, the last positioned filling may United t s Patent .0

be crowded into place against the fabric thus far pro- I duced. The reed which provides the warp spacing is necessarily as long as the width of the fabric, but it is sometimes desirable to change the length of the reed by a short distance to provide for a different-width of fabric. It is also found that in weaving a wire fabric, such as is used for screencloth, the shuttle occasionally does not make a properlycompleted pass through the separated warp strands and strikes the reed near the end of shuttle travel. The reed dents are, comparatively fragile and easily damaged, and an accident of that type makes it necessary to replace the entire reed structure with a consequent expense and loss of weaving time.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a reed structure comprising dents, and primarily at one or both ends of the reed, which are readily removable and replaceable and yet are held firmly in their correct locations and spacings for the normal operation of the loom.

A further object is to provide a reed structure having dent spacers located near one end of the assembled dents and so arranged as to provide an accurate spacing of the dents similar to that of the dents which are mounted in a fixed and irremovable relationship in the main reed body and to provide at the other end of the dents a removable clamp which serves both to space thedents and to'clamp them firmly in place relative to the remaining fixed dents of the reed. Other objects will be readily apparent in the following disclosure.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention:

, Fig. 1: is a fragmentary longitudinal side elevation, partly broken away, of a reed having both the fixed dents and movable dents according to this invention;

1 Fig. 2 is an end view of the removable dent portion of the structure, shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged view similar to Fig. 1, partly in section, showing the lower portion of the reed and some of the removable dents andtheir spacers and some of the fixed dents and their helix wire spacer with the solder omitted; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of the mounting plates of the reed which carry the removable dents, and showing the slotted structure and some of the dent spacers therein.

Referring first to the right hand portion of Figs. 1 and 4, I have there shown a portion of a standard construction, in which dents 10 are mounted in a fixed relationship on a support, such as the two spaced plates 11 and 12 forming the bottom portion or backing of the swinging reed structure. These plates are adapted to be removably supported by clamps on a pivoted mount arranged 2,914,094 Patented Nov. 24, 1959 "ice.

' of the construction. may be made in accordance with standard practice, such as is illustrated in the US. patent to Kaufmann #l,997,560 of April 9, 1935. The tops and bottoms of this assembled structure are customarily dipped in solder 15 which bonds the dents to the helix and the plates 11 and 12. The helix projects beyond the dents as an outwardly bulging part 16, as best shown at the lower portion of Fig. 2, which is formed of the solder embedded wire helix 14 coiled in a substantially cylindrical shape. The solder holds the wire helix in place and prevents any longitudinal. or'lateral movement of the dents, and the latter are permanently secured in spaced relationship at their upper and lower ends. Fig. 4 shows the dent spacing helix wire without the embedded solder. Various other constructions may be employed to hold these dents permanently in spaced positions.

In accordance with my invention, I so construct a portion, and preferably at least one end, of the reed structure that a set of dents 20, such as those occupying the last inch of length of the reed, may be readily removed and new reeds assembled in a correct spacing which agrees with that of the fixed dents 10, and wherein the removable dents are held immovable during the normal operation of the device. These dents may be round wire bodies, but in the form illustrated, they comprise thin, substantially flat metal plates or strips of about 7 wide and of a suitable length, such as 4. The dents may be slightly rounded at their side faces, as shown in exaggerated form in Fig.- 3, so that the warp may move readily therebetween without material obstruction. I To hold the removable dents 20 spaced at their upper ends, I provide two spaced clamps 21 whch have a series of closely spaced serrated or wedge-shaped teeth 22. These teeth project inwardly, as shown in Fig. 3, and provide wedge-shaped channels into which the side edges of the dents 20 interfit tightly, and the spacing provided by these channels is substantially the same as the spacing of the fixed dents 10 at the other end of the reed structure. The two clamps 21 are held in clamping engagement with the dents by means of headed bolts 24 and nuts 25 and associated washers which serve to clamp the two plates 21 tightly against the side edges of the dents and insure their immovability during use. Each of the clamps 21 is milled away at 27 (Fig. 2) to provide a concave recess which will fit over the outwardly bulging body 16 formed by the helix wire 14 and the solder 15 of the adjacent rigid portion of the reed. The upper portions of the clamp bodies are somewhat L-shaped and are in engagement, so that the clamping'nut and bolt structure. serves merely to draw the lower portions of the clamps tightly .against the dents and make a rigid body. The clamp teeth 22 are arranged only at the lower portion of each plate and so that the clamp may interfit with the fixed dents 10. That is, the teeth 22 clamp against the fixed dents 10 at the left hand portion of the solid. reed structure and so make sufiicient clamping engagement with those fixed dents to hold the removable dents 20 in their correct relationship to the fixed dents. Since the spacing for the removable dents, as determined by the teeth 22, is the same as the spacing of the fixed dents 10, the removable dent 20 nearest the last fixed dent 10 is held in its correct spacing relationship by the clamp teeth.

Although the clamp structure may be used for mounting the upper ends of the dents, I have provided an arrangement whereby the dents may be readily spaced at their lower ends on the mounting plates 11, 12 before the clamps are applied at their upper ends, so that the actual clamping of the tops of the dents does not require any ingenuity on the part of the operator to assemble and hold them in place initially. To this end, I provide a set of spacers 30' which are mounted between the two lower spaced plates 11 and 12 forming the reed base or back spacing. These spacers have a spacing which permits the insertion of the dents therebetween and yet holds the dents substantially immovable. The lower plates 11 and 12 are held in position by an end bar 32 therebetween suitably fixed in place, as by means of rivets. By sawing downwardly through the top portions of these side bars 11 and 12 a set of spaced slots 33 are formed, as best shown in Fig. 4. These slots may be inch deep and spaced by the thickness of a dent. The spacers 30 comprising thin metal bars are mounted in the slots 33 and suitably secured, as by soldering. The fixed dents may be assembled with their helical wire spacers and soldered in place, after which the saw slots 33 are cut in the remaining end portions of the side plates 11 and 12 of the bottom support. The purpose of the spacers 30 is primarily that of holding the dents in their correct spaced relationship, since the stress on the dents will be absorbed chiefly by the bottom plates 11 and 12; hence they may be short vertically and thin.

It will now be appreciated that this loom reed comprises a set of dents removably mounted in spaced relationship on a support. A pair of opposed clamps having spaced teeth may removably hold the dents in a spaced relationship, and preferably at their tops. The bottoms of the dents may be removably mounted between two spaced plates which form a support for the dents. The required spacing of: the dents between the plates may be obtained by means of thin spacers mounted in slots in the plates and between which the dents are located. If, however, the reed structure is sufiiciently large, then the dents may be mounted directly in the slots and the material between the slots constitutes the spacer for the adjacent dents.

It will also be understood that any portion of the reed, and preferably the end portion which is likely to be struck by a shuttle, may comprise the removable dents. If fixed dents are present, these may be mounted in accordance with standard or desired procedure, such as by having a helical wire inserted transversely into the spaces between the dents, after which the assembly may be dipped in solder. In the preferred structure, the upper end of the reed has the fixed dents held in place solely by the solder embedding the coils of the helix and adhering to the dents. At the lower end where the dents are located between the two side plates 11 and 12 of the support, this lower plate portion of the assembled dents may be dipped into solder, and the spaces between the dents and the helix coil will be filled with the solder and the latter will adhere to and make a substantially solid body with the side plates 11 and 12.

According to my invention, the rigid portion of the reed structure is supplemented by the removable dents and the clamps and associated spacers. This supplemental portion is preferably located at one or both ends of the reed, so that if it is desired to shorten the reed, it is merely necessary to remove some of the dents. Likewise, a short reed may be lengthened by inserting dents and clamping them in place in their spaced relationship relative to the fixed dents. This structure, therefore, makes it easy to repair a reed when damaged by a shuttle. Other advantages and methods of use of this invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art.

It will also be understood that various modifications may be made in the construction within the scope of this invention, and that the above disclosure and the drawings are to be interpreted as setting forth the principles of the invention and a preferred embodiment and not as imposing limitations on the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A loom reed comprising a support, a set of fixed dents, means to hold the upper ends of said dents fixed in a permanently spaced arrangement, means on the support which locate and permanently secure the lower ends of said dents on an intermediate portion of the support, a set of removable dents, means to locate and hold the removable-dents rigidly on an end portion of the support and provide for ready removal thereof, and opposed clamp plates having teeth, some of which project inwardly between and space the upper ends of the removable dents and others of which project between some of the fixed dents, whereby to hold the upper ends of the removable dents rigidly relative to each other and to the fixed dents.

2. A loom reed according to claim 1 in which the dent support comprises two spaced plates and means including transverse spaced slots in the plates which spaces the dents and holds them rigidly in position.

3. A loom reed according to claim 2 comprising trans verse spacer plates mounted in the slots and between which the dents are removably inserted in a tight fit.

4. A loom reed comprising a longitudinal bottom support having transverse spaced slots therein, plates in the 1 slots forming spaces therebetween, a set of fixed dents having their lower ends held in said spaces at an intermediate portion of the support, means to secure said dents permanently fixed in position on the support, means engaging and spacing the top portions of said dents and holding them permanently fixed in position, a set of removable dents held rigidly in the spaces between the plates at one end portion of the support, and means including a pair of clamp plates having teeth projecting between and spacing the top portions of the removable dents, and interfitting with some of the fixed dents which hold the removable dents in a spaced arrangement relative to each other and to the fixed dents.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

